Navy commander: ‘I feel very lucky to be standing here talking to you’

A Navy officer who survived Monday’s shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard said he feels “lucky” to have escaped uninjured, after a man standing next to him was shot.

{mosads}Navy Cmdr. Tim Jirus said he was speaking to a man in the alley behind Building No. 197 at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday when two shots rang out. The other man was shot in the head, Jirus said.

Jirus said he sprinted after the shots were fired and hopped a fence to escape.

He said he did not know the identity of the man he was speaking to, his condition or the source of the shots.

“I feel very lucky to be standing here talking to you as opposed to somewhere else,” he told reporters.

Jirus said he was working on the fourth floor of the building Monday morning when he heard muffled gunshots.

Personnel were soon told to evacuate and the fire alarm went off a few minutes later.

About 150 people moved into the alley, he said, when someone approached him, asking if there was a shooter.

After speaking for about a minute, Jirus said, two additional gunshots rang out, one hitting the other man.

Outside the building Monday afternoon, Jirus said his office was still trying to account for all employees. He said at least one of his co-workers had been shot.